Can a movie be well-acted and still be dull and unsatisfying? The movie August gives us the answer to this question.

August centers around two brothers who are trying to keep their dotcom business afloat during August 2001. I had high hopes for this movie, both because I generally like Josh Hartnett’s work, and I’m also a geek. In the end I was ultimately disappointed by August. The trailer for August hyped up the movie in much the same way as Tom hyped up Landshark to the potential investors — a whole lotta hype with very little substance to back it up. Maybe that’s the point. Many dotcom businesses at the time were surviving solely on hype.

I continually had this nagging curiosity about what the Landshark company actually did. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who wanted to know, because Tom’s dad (Rip Torn) asked him, “What do you actually do?” Maybe we as the viewers aren’t supposed to know the answer to that question. But isn’t that what this movie is about? Or is this movie about the strain that a business puts on the relationship between two brothers? If that was the case, we should have seen more of Josh (Adam Scott) and Tom (Josh Hartnett) on screen together.

As far as other actors in August besides Hartnett, they received very little screen time and character development. I would have loved to see more of Adam Scott, Naomie Harris, Rip Torn, Robin Tunney, and David Bowie, but instead we get a movie consisting almost exclusively of Hartnett.

If you are a Josh Hartnett fan, you will want to see August for his commendable performance, but otherwise, I can’t really recommend it.

Buy August on DVD:
August (2008) DVD

Flexplay Entertainment has announced that Hudson Groupl will be selling their Flexplay DVDs in newsstands and booksellers in airports and transportation terminals throughout the U.S. and Canada, starting in September.

The limited-life Flexplay DVDs have a 2-day viewing period once the seal is broken, however the customer is not required to start watching the same day as the purchase. Viewing can start a day, a month or even a year later.

This seems like a good place to try to start selling these self-degrading DVDs, as many travelers would not be able to return an ordinary rental on time resulting in late fees.

On August 26, 2008, Brotherhood of the Wolf (Pacte des loups, Le) will be released as a Director’s Cut edition with 10 extra minutes of footage.

Directed by: Christophe Gans
Starring: Samuel Le Bihan as Grégoire de Fronsac, Vincent Cassel as Jean-François de Morangias, Émilie Dequenne as Marianne de Morangias, Monica Bellucci as Sylvia, Jérémie Renier as Thomas d’Apcher, Mark Dacascos as Mani

Buy:
Brotherhood of the Wolf Director’s Cut at Amazon.com

Brotherhood of the Wolf Director’s Cut at Amazon.co.uk

PRELIMINARY BONUS FEATURES:
— DELETED SCENES: Watch over 40 minutes of additional footage from the
film.
— MAKING OF “BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF”: THE GUTS OF THE BEAST: Explore
the creation of the movie from its unlikely genesis to the breathtaking
fight scenes and daring digital effects.
— DOCUMENTARY: Go on-location with the cast and crew as they deal with
everything from fight choreography to costume decisions and weather
challenges.
— THE LEGEND: Uncover the chilling historical facts behind the legend of
the vicious Gevaudan Beast.
— STORYBOARDS: See extensive storyboard galleries from some of the
film’s most memorable scenes.
— THEATRICAL TRAILER: Watch the theatrical trailer from the film.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION:
Street date: August 26, 2008
Selection number: 61104683
Price: SRP $19.98
Running Time: 2 Hours 31 Minutes
Layers: Dual Layer
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Rating: Not Rated
Languages/Subtitles: English, French, English SDH, French and Spanish
subtitles
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

SwapaDVD is a free-membership DVD swapping club that has been operating since December 2007.

There are no membership fees and no transaction fees. All members pay is the cost of U.S. postage (typically $1.81 per DVD) to send DVDs that are requested from them. It isn’t necessary to go to the post office: the site provides a wrapper that can be printed out on regular printer paper, bearing the mailing address and the sender’s return address. The sender wraps the DVD with the printed wrapper, adds stamps and pops it in the mail. There is also an option to print postage directly onto the wrapper.

When a member sends out a requested DVD and it is received, DVD credit (1 credit per disc) is deposited into the sender’s account. Then the member can order DVDs for himself or herself. Mail a DVD — Get a DVD! The DVDs can be kept, or swapped again after watching them.

This looks like a great alternative to Netflix and Blockbuster. We all have DVDs that we are willing to swap for something better.

SwapaDVD also operates sisters sites SwapaCD and PaperbackSwap.

“24: Exile” takes place between seasons 6 and seasons 7 in Africa. Jack’s peaceful existence is threatened when he and his friend Benton get caught up in a coup d’état against a powerful African warlord that spirals out of control.

Starring: Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, Cherry Jones as President Allison Taylor, Gil Bellows as U.S. Government Agent, Tony Todd as General Benjamin Juma, Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Ike Dubaku, Jon Voight as Jonas Hodges, Colm Feore as Henry Taylor

Pre-order “24: Exile”
“24: Exile” DVD at Amazon.com
“24: Exile” DVD at Amazon.co.uk

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Here are the details for the upcoming DVD and Blu-ray releases of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull which will begin shipping on October 14, 2008. Both are available for pre-order using the links below:

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [Blu-ray] (2008) at Amazon.com
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [DVD] (2008) at Amazon.com

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [DVD] (2008) at Amazon.co.uk
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Monty Python fans will enjoy the chance to vote on the DVD cover of the upcoming release of the Monty Python Holy Trinity which features Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, and Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life.

Click here to vote on the cover design.
Click here to pre-order the Monty Python Holy Trinity.

Staples is set to begin selling self-destructing DVDs, made by Flexplay, which will render themselves unplayable within 48 hours of breaking the packaging’s seal. The discs will go on sale sometime this month for $4.99 each.

Flexplay claims that the discs are “fully recyclable and conform to all applicable EPA environmental standards.” Unfortunately, just because something is said to be recyclable, that doesn’t mean that consumers will always recycle it. These discs will inevitably amount to more trash in landfills.

It will be interesting to see whether the majority of consumers will embrace this technology. My gut feeling is that they won’t. Consumers may be more inclined to spend the same money with Netflix or Blockbuster and not increase waste.
[via PC World]

I just watched my Blade Runner: The Final Cut on Blu-ray. The final cut is cool, although I must admit that it is the only cut of Blade Runner that I have ever seen.

Wow! This movie is 25 years old and could hold its own against many of today’s films, though some might argue that is not much of a feat. Anyway, I really enjoyed Blade Runner. I will have to go back and watch the theatrical release to see how much different it is.

Still images:
Harrison Ford and Sean Young | Rutger Hauer | LAPD vehicle | Los Angeles, 2019

See below for interviews, film clips, and product links.
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Apple announced today that new movie releases will be available for purchase the same day as their DVD release. The film studios involved in this are 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment and First Look Studios.